Dimension Zero – He Who Shall Bleed

Call me an old curmudgeon, but if a band contains members that spent time in entities such as In Flames (the old stuff rules…. C’mon!), Liars in Wait, Darkified, old Dark Tranquillity, and the INCREDIBLE Miscreant… I guess I feel that a new album with those members should contain a bit of the ancient death metal spirit. I think I falsely clung to the hope that the old DM bug is still pumping through their veins going into this album for the first time… which is my perception and admittedly not something that is fair to judge a bands body of work on, other than the fact that this modernized, psuedo-thrash, borderline technically chic, borderline mall metal, and clinically perfect sounding recording just really feels like a million other bands out there right now trying to strike pay dirt with a similar, technically perfect sound. There’s definitely some VERY catchy riff work on display here, for Jesper Stromblad has always been a gifted writer, but that driving D-beat and overall lack of songwriting character between tracks makes the bulk of “He Who Shall Bleed” feel like one long, palm muted crunch dominant, unending track. Joakim Göthberg’s vocals are sufficiently scathing, finding him even dig a bit deeper on occasion for a darker death metal growl, but the bulk of his performance follows suit with the music…. Excellently performed, but generally colorless when introduced to the overall formula. Granted, this style of death influenced modern metal really isn’t my thing…. It lacks the full bodied organic grit that I tend to gravitate towards when it comes to death metal, I foresee that “He Who Shall Bleed” will appeal to a wider audience of kids just on the cusp of getting into the good stuff due to the high caliber and catchy riff work on this album. Dimension Zero.. a musical gateway drug? Perhaps… but is this really what the veterans in this bands ranks want at this stage in their career? –Marty